Problem: William bought a new sweatshirt at the store when they were having a $25\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the sweatshirt was $$36$, how much did William pay with the discount?
Answer: First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$36$ $\times$ $25\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $25\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{25}{100}$ which is also equal to $25 \div 100$ $25 \div 100 = 0.25$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.25$ $\times$ $$36$ $ = $ $$9.00$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price William paid. $$36$ $-$ $$9.00$ $ = $ $$27.00$ William paid $$27.00$ for the sweatshirt.